VOICE IS COMING HOT
By: Greg Oakford
Me: Alexa, please book me a tee
time for next Saturday morning.
Alexa: Sure Greg, does 8:24am
suit?
Human behaviour can be pretty
predictable. If something is
convenient and affordable the
masses will adopt it. Think the
rise of Uber, Uber Eats, other
food delivery services, pay pass,
the fact you don’t log out of
your social media apps and why
you Google… well, pretty much
everything.
Convenience has always been
valued at a premium. If we follow
history, we know humans value
time immensely. Even more so
in a 2018 world as we continue
to jam pack our lives with as
many things as possible. We live
busy lives. Saving time is at a
premium and convenience leads
to saving time.
Enter the evolution of voice. We
already know that 1 in 5 Google
searches are done via voice and
this number is going to continue
to trend up as devices such
as Google Home and Amazon
Echo become staples in the
household. But it’s not just voice
search that’s on the rise, there’s
a whole tidal wave of audio
innovation coming as more
and more of our lives become
connected by natural human
language.
Google Home and
Alexa for Amazon Echo)
get smarter… and
smarter… and smarter.
They build upon their
interactions with their
users through artificial
intelligence.
Now before your mind
races too far into the
abyss or you’re having
flashbacks to The
Terminator movies, let’s think
about the remote control of
your life that’s beside you right
now or in your pocket – the
smart phone. 10 years ago, you
wouldn’t even comprehend what
your smart phone can do today.
History is going to repeat itself
with voice controlled devices
over the next 5-10 years.
So, what can one of these voice
controlled devices actually
do? Despite only being in their
infancy, anything from turning
your home lights on and off,
controlling your music across
multiple devices, reading you the
news, booking you a table at a
restaurant, informing you which
route you should take on your
commute and the list goes on.
If you’re not familiar with Google
Home and Amazon Echo, they
are speaker devices that connect
to voice-controlled assistants
but not just any old pre-loaded
computer system, these
assistants (Google Assistant for Then there is what we call ‘skills’
or ‘actions’ for these devices.
Think of them as customised
apps for your smart phone but
they are developed for human
voice interactions rather than
touchscreen interactions. The
PGA TOUR already has an Alexa
‘skill’ developed for users of
the Amazon Echo that delivers
services such as leaderboard
updates and news. You might
find yourself asking, “Alexa, ask
PGA TOUR how Marc Leishman
40 I
I GOLF MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA
AUTUMN EDITION 2018
is doing at the PLAYERS
CHAMPIONSHIP” and you’ll have
Alexa voice assistant deliver
that information in a matter of
seconds.
Forecasting forwards for golf,
let’s explore some possibilities:
- Booking tee times at your
club whilst making breakfast
- Finding out your new
handicap in the car on the
way home
- Finding a PGA Pro in your
area and comparing prices/
services offered while you’re
hanging out the laundry
- Learning about upcoming
events you can play in while
you’re practicing your putting
in the backyard
- Tidying up your knowledge
of the rules through voice
interactions while you’re
sweeping the floors
It still might sound a little far-
fetched as we can already do so
much on our computers, phones
and tablets but please keep in
mind the convenience factor.
We can do other things whilst
interacting with audio, we can’t
with the written word or video. It
saves time!